Better to get farm as a gift or in a will?

random10

My husband is from a farm, it's a 70 acre farm which my father in law still farms. This farm along with the family home will be left to my husband. He has a full time job so will not be farming himself and will lease the land. We also have our own home but plan on doing up the family home eventually. My father in law asked us yesterday to research whether it's better to gift us the farm now or wait and will it to us. He is in his seventies and in good health and enjoys farming so nothing would change either way.

Lockedout2

You can make a plan to receive a gift it's much more difficult to plan an inheritance.

Take Agricultural Relief as an example there is a financial asset test that has to be passed so you husband could arrange his assets now to take a gift but in the future may not be able to meet the test as a mortgage may have been paid off or other assets accumulated.

wordofwarning

A fee of about €200/300 with a tax advisor could answer this question and you will be 99% certain it is the right decision. I would not base my inheritance that could be close to a €1m on what people say online

Bass Reeves

Lockedout2 wrote: »

You can make a plan to receive a gift it's much more difficult to plan an inheritance.

Take Agricultural Relief as an example there is a financial asset test that has to be passed so you husband could arrange his assets now to take a gift but in the future may not be able to meet the test as a mortgage may have been paid off or other assets accumulated.

This has changed now with stamp duty. If farm and was valued at 700K then you will have a 42K stamp duty bill unless rules are changed. Family home is excluded from asset test. However if you have other assets such as rental property then thsi may limit agriculture relief. At present if you lease you can get agriculture relief however this may change. You also have the risk of nursing home care. However I think you best bet is to talk to a good accountant and or solicitor to get solid advice.

blue5000

Has your husband a green cert or agricultural related degree of any kind, and is he under or over 40?
One of the advantages of getting it as a gift now is that if your father in law has to go into a nursing home 5 years after he transfers the asset, that asset AFAIK can't be touched. As others have said best to get professional advice.

Lockedout2

Bass Reeves wrote: »

Family home is excluded from asset test.

An on farm house can be agricultural property.

An off farm house is not excluded (a mortgage can be deducted).

lakill Farm

random10 wrote: »

My husband is from a farm, it's a 70 acre farm which my father in law still farms. This farm along with the family home will be left to my husband. He has a full time job so will not be farming himself and will lease the land. We also have our own home but plan on doing up the family home eventually. My father in law asked us yesterday to research whether it's better to gift us the farm now or wait and will it to us. He is in his seventies and in good health and enjoys farming so nothing would change either way.

Inherit it. No stamp duty

Need to value your own assets and the farm and farm house and use an auctioneer who will work with you. Take what you want of that but

Lease land to a farmer with green cert and you should be ok for agri relief

Donegalforever

It is correct that getting the farm in a Will could be more beneficially tax wise.

However, this route is not without possible risk.
For example if your father-in-law Willed the farm to his son (your husband) and if the father-in-law became too ill to stay at home and had to go into a Nursing Home then a large chunk of the value of the farm being eaten up to pay the Nursing Home charges. The longer he stayed in the Nursing Home the more would be taken.

Another point worth mentioning is if the farm was Gifted to your husband and if his father died before five years are up, then the Nursing Home is still entitled to take their charges.

Sorry for my rather negative message.

Cavanjack

Looks like the government has seen sence on the stamp duty on farm transfers. All family transfers will be no more that 1% the way I read it.